Socialist City Council Candidate Kshama Sawant Arrested Protesting Home Eviction

This afternoon Socialist Alternative Seattle City Council Candidate Kshama Sawant - who’s currently vying for the council position held by Richard Conlin - was apparently arrested in South Park while protesting the eviction of 37-year-old Jeremy Griffin.

Photo: @VoteSawant

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Protesting Griffin’s eviction and the foreclosure of his home along with the anti-foreclosure group Stand Against Foreclosures and Evictions, Sawant and at least two others, according to a campaign spokesperson, were taken into custody by the King County Sheriff’s Office at approximately 1:15 p.m. Seattle Weekly’s Nina Shapiro has covered Griffin’s fight to keep his home before.

According to a press release from the Sawant campaign, “Sawant and other allies gathered at [Griffin’s] home to peacefully resist the eviction,” arguing that “Jeremy Griffin has done everything he can to work with [Wells Fargo] to keep his home he’s owned for 8 years, including writing a check for six months of advanced payment.”

“I call on everyone who feels that working people should not be kicked out of their homes to satisfy the banks’ drive for profit, should join the struggle to fight foreclosures and evictions in Seattle,” Sawant is quoted as saying in the press release (presumably before she was handcuffed).

According to King County Sheriff’s Spokesperson Cindi West, no information is available yet on exactly how many people were arrested during today’s protest or whether Sawant was among them (the picture above from the @VoteSawant Twitter account sure makes it seem like she was). We will update this post as soon as that info becomes available.

UPDATE: According to West, four people were arrested and released - three women and one man. The names of those arrested have not been officially disclosed yet as charges have not been filed.